Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

zoya the destroyer

@sophiahelix.bsky.social

760 followers 270 following 8.3K posts

norcal | media consumption + some sports | anyway

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · May 1

Going to start making up novel or movie titles based on words I missed in the NYT Spelling Bee

Yesterday's is "Gangland Adagio," obviously a cringe memoir by a white teacher about working in the hood

3 3 53

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 6h

ohhh I didn’t know there was a self marking thing, I should have used that for saying “The Bridge Over the River Kwai”

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 7h

I don't think I knew you could get half points!

Reposted by zoya the destroyer

J. L. Westover @mrlovenstein.bsky.social · 19h

no one is safe

11 540 2.5K

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 10h

(note my opinion isn’t about ebook versus physical generally, just about how good it is for the close read classical lit discussion groups I’ve been doing the last 3 years)

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 10h

people I encounter seem to really want that physical copy, which is fine except ebook is just easier to reference in group

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 10h

I can make highlights/annotations and the text into separately scrollable panels, which is great for finding quotes during discussion, and I keep a color coded system of highlights which I can adjust as necessary. Wish I’d had this in school.

screenshot of a page of the Aeneid in my Kindle iPad app, with the text in the left column and a few selections I’ve highlighted in the right column

1 2

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 10h

people seem really put off by reading classics in ebook, there’s Amazon hate (understandable), etc

2 1

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 10h

my actual literary opinions are all pretty hinged, but people do hate when I say how much I love reading in the iPad Kindle app for my book discussion groups — it’s so much easier to find things and make/undo highlights, plus have them all in one place

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 20h

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

4 6

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 11h

one team to crush the other, because I want a strong AL team against the Dodgers

Reposted by zoya the destroyer

bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 14h

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

1.3K 4.2K 20K

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 11h

now we are doing the traditional “sister helps burn the ex’s stuff in the front yard,” classical epic poetry is so relatable

Sister, I swear it by your darling life
And by the gods—I wouldn’t choose such weapons.
Build me a pyre in secret in the courtyard.
The arms that evil man hung in our bedroom,
The clothes he left me here, our bed of union
(My death)—put it all there. I want the remnants
Of the criminal destroyed. She’s shown me how.”

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 11h

I read the Lattimore Iliad last summer, and the intro showed the same passage in 9 or 10 different translations for comparison and I liked Fagles there so I grabbed it from my library. I prefer ebooks for reading groups though and had to buy Ruden when I switched

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 11h

I started with Fagels which I thought was good, then switched on someone’s recommendation and it’s even better

1 1

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 12h

her parting shot is extremely good (trans Ruden)

I hope that heaven’s conscience has the power
To trap you in the rocks and force reprisal
Down your throat, as you call my name. I’ll send— I’ll bring black flames, I’ll hound you after cold death
Draws out my soul. Even among the dead
In hell, I’ll hear when you, at last, are paying.

2 8

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 12h

reading about Dido and Aeneas and their big fight would translate extremely well to modern language

“What, I let you move in when you were broke and you were just going to SNEAK OUT AT NIGHT”

“Woman I have a DESTINY. If I had my choice I’d go back to Troy but no, I have to FOUND ITALY”

1 8

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 14h

it was pretty normal before 2020! I have multiple friends who’ve been remote for a long time, in one case his whole working life…then it got politicized somehow

1 1

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 14h

i wish i could mute my 12yo saying it all the time but alas

1 1

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 14h

Little Shop of Horrors

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 14h

(not disagreeing with OP, just wondering who exactly still gets to work remote when it seems like I’m always hearing about big tech companies ending it)

5 3

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 14h

I have a specialist doctor who does just virtual visits from home two days a week so maybe it’s people like that, but given the neighborhoods and property values I was going through there are definitely some high level professionals who still get to work remote

1 2

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 14h

managers? very small companies? who knows, but the idea “remote doesn’t work” is pretty clearly not universal

1 1

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 14h

I drove through Los Gatos and Saratoga last Friday morning and based on the number of cars in driveways there are absolutely people working remote or at least flex time and making good money doing it

tef @tef.bsky.social · 15h

once again i am faced with the uncomfortable truth: remote work is a skill issue

1 3

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 15h

(I would also recommend the ebook because the print version has tiny text with very small margins and was hard on my eyes)

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 15h

I really enjoyed this last year -- like reading the wiki entry for all the movies you're too scared to know about, with some good cultural discussion

Premee Mohamed @premeemohamed.com · 17h

The audiobook of HORROR FOR WEENIES is on sale at Chirp Books this week for $3.99! :D

www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/h...

Horror for Weenies
Written by: Emily C. Hughes
Narrated by: Cassidy Brown
Categories: General Nonfiction, Arts & Entertainment
Feel left out when friends talk about horror flicks? Perfect for scaredy-cats who still want to sound like film buffs, this witty Bram Stoker Award winner unpacks 25 iconic scary movies with jokes, sharp insights, and zero jump scares. An “accessible, entertaining, and informative” guide that’s like having “a conversation with a horror-fan bestie” (Library Journal starred review)!

1 3

zoya the destroyer @sophiahelix.bsky.social · 17h

I check my period app constantly to figure out what my hormonal state should be (partly bc I don't have periods but do have a hormone cycle so I need to keep external track)